**********
DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is copyrighted 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi. All except the characters I created belong
to her. I'm just borrowing them for awhile :-)
*********
SENSHI IN COLLEGE: EPISODE 11 -- The Golden Crystal appears!
Mamoru's amazing new transformation.
Written By: DQBunny
Edited By: Meara
Pre-Read By: SMRFF List
*********
"Mamo-chan!"
Mamoru looked up from his book to see Usagi running
down the path toward him. He got up from the park bench
where he had been waiting for her. The early September
breeze blew leaves of different colors into Usagi's path
and she promptly crushed them as she ran toward him. He
smiled in response to her carefree attitude and snapped the
book shut.
Usagi held several books and magazines in her arms.
She was almost to him when she tripped on a crack in the
sidewalk. Mamoru reached out and caught Usagi before she
could fall to the ground. This threw him off balance, and
they fell back onto the bench.
They both laughed at the accident. Usagi did not
bother to move off of Mamoru's lap. Besides, it made what
she had to ask him much easier. A wicked gleam appeared in
her blue eyes as she got an idea, then started kissing him.
"You're glad to see me," Mamoru managed to comment
between kisses. Usagi pulled off his reading glasses and
tucked them into a pocket of his dress shirt.
"I'm always glad to see you!" Usagi said, then
snuggled up to him. "Especially today! I'm especially
glad to see you today!"
She wants something, Mamoru thought. He knew he
hadn't been around Tsukino Usagi for five years and not
know when she was about to ask for something. He grinned,
her hair tickling his nose. "So, what do you have to ask
me today, Usako?"
"Oh nothing," Usagi ran her hand up and down his
chest, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. "Just one
favor. One teeny, weeny little favor. One miniscule little
favor."
"Do you know what miniscule means?" Mamoru asked her.
"Come on, all of that studying with Ami-chan did pay
off," Usagi said. "Miniscule means...umm...er..."
Mamoru chuckled. "That's what I thought. What did
you want to ask me?"
Usagi sat up straighter. She brushed Mamoru's dark
hair out of his eyes. "Well, you see, Momma's brother is
really sick. You remember him, the one who works for the
driver's license department."
"Uh huh...and this has to with me because?" Mamoru
slightly raised one of his eyebrows.
"Well, Rei-chan and Minako-chan are both in the
school choir, and they're away in Osaka doing a series of
concerts for the next week."
"Uh huh..."
"And Mako-chan and her class are taking a trip as
well to a sister cooking school in Kyoto. And, of course,
Ami-chan's at Harvard. That leaves you."
Mamoru started to grow nervous. Something inside him
knew this was not going to be a small favor. "Leaves me to
do what?" he asked warily.
"To take care of Chibi Chibi-chan!" Usagi said in a
cheerful voice.
"To do what?" Mamoru nearly knocked Usagi out of his
lap. Instead, he managed to place her on the bench next to
him, books and magazines piled in her lap. "Take care of
Chibi Chibi?"
"Hai!" Usagi nodded. She sighed and crossed her arms
over her chest. She leaned back against the bench and her
cheerful expression was replaced by a grumpy one. "Momma
wants me, Shingo, and Chibi-Usa to go to see my ojisan in
Kobe, but thinks Chibi Chibi-chan is too young to go. She
said I needed to find her a babysitter, then suggested
you."
"Why me?" Mamoru asked, incrediously.
"Momma says you've always taken really good care of
Chibi-Usa, so you're perfect to take care of Chibi Chibi."
Usagi shrugged. She turned her gaze back on Mamoru and her
eyes turned pleading. "Please, Mamo-chan? Please?" Usagi
grabbed hold of his arm and tears filled her eyes.
Be strong, Mamoru, he thought to himself. You're a
first year med student. You have to study. You don't have
time to take care of a two-year-old. You...Mamoru stared
at Usagi's lips. You.... Her bottom lip began to tremble.
Mamoru sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'll take care of
her," he said.
"Arigato, Mamo-chan!" Usagi threw herself into his
arms, her books and magazines falling to the ground.
Mamoru caught a look at the cover of one of the magazines.
A giggling baby on some type of colorful blanket was the
dominant art on the cover with the word "Parents" above the
child.
"Why do you have those?" Mamoru asked Usagi.
"Oh!" Usagi reached down and scooped up the magazines
and books and deposited them in Mamoru's arms. "They're a
bunch of parenting magazines and books. Momma thought you
could use them. We're only going to be gone a week. How
hard could it be?"
Mamoru started sweating at that moment. He swallowed
and tried to think of something to say in response to her,
but words failed him at that moment. He knew he was not
going to come out of this the same person he went into it.
**********
"Have fun! Ja ne!" Mamoru closed his apartment door
and leaned against it. He rubbed his temples. It had
taken him nearly an hour to reassure Usagi's mother that
everything would be all right. Then Usagi and Chibi-Usa
stalled for time because they did not want to go on the
trip. Finally, he had gotten the Tsukino family out of his
home and on their way to Kobe. The sooner they got there,
the sooner they would be back home, he realized.
"Chibi chibi?"
Mamoru slowly turned around. Chibi Chibi stood in
the middle of his living room. The little girl had her
hair done up in heart-shaped odango and she wore a white
blouse and blue skirt with a small heart compact pinned
to the red bow on her blouse. She stood there smiling at
him.
He swallowed. Chiba Mamoru was 23 years old. An
only child. In his past life he was prince of the Earth.
Soon, he would be king. He was going to be married in
December. He'd faced down the Dark Kingdom, the Black
Moon kingdom, and countless other youma and enemies in the
past few years. He'd died on more than one occassion, not
to mention being brainwashed...constantly. But nothing terrified
him like the task that had been thrown at him now.
Taking care of a two year old.
Mamoru walked over to the little girl and crouched
down before her. He had taken care of Chibi-Usa plenty of
times, but she had been around eight-years-old the first
time she came to the 20th century. An eight-year-old
and a two-year-old were two different things entirely.
"You know, if it makes you feel any better Mamoru-
san, Chibi Chibi-chan's potty-trained."
Mamoru looked up to see Luna and Diana sitting on the
back of the sofa. They had come as part of the baby-
sitting deal. But, he knew he did not need to take care of
Luna and Diana the way he needed to take care of Chibi
Chibi. After all, Luna could play a mean game of poker.
He figured that would bump her out of the "pet" category.
"Chibi chibi!" Chibi Chibi toddled off into the
kitchen.
Mamoru sighed and sat down on the sofa. "There's not
much to play with in there, she can't get into much
trouble."
"I'm not sure about that, Mamoru-san," Luna said.
"Do you have any silverware lying around? If so, she could
grab a piece and jam it in the electrical socket. Then
she could try to reach for something and have it fall on
top of her. And then if you have cleaning materials under
the sink, she could get into them and drink some of..."
The cat watched as Mamoru jumped up and ran in the
kitchen. He returned moments later carrying Chibi Chibi in
his arms. She held an apple in her hands and was trying to
chew on it.
"You know, you should cut that into little pieces for
her," Luna said. "But not too little or she'll choke on them."
"Hai, hai," Mamoru carried Chibi Chibi back into the
kitchen. He set her on the counter and took the apple from
her. He hunted for a knife and started to cut the apple
into slices. Luna and Diana followed him into the kitchen.
"Mamoru-sama!" Diana called. "It's dangerous to have
a child on the counter!"
Mamoru stopped cutting and put Chibi Chibi on the
floor. The child sat down, opened the bottom cabinet, and
started to pull out the pots and pans.
"Mamoru-san, she's getting into the pots and pans!"
Luna said.
With a groan, Mamoru stopped cutting and picked up
Chibi Chibi. He held her to his hip with one hand while
trying to cut the apple with the other. Mamoru managed to
hack a piece off the apple, and it flew across the room.
Chibi Chibi clapped. "Do again!"
Mamoru sighed and handed her one of the pieces of
apple he had managed to slice. He carried her back into
the living room and sat down with her on the sofa. Reaching
over, he grabbed the remote control off of the
coffee table. He turned it onto a channel which featured
children's programming.
Luna jumped up to the sofa next to him. "Have you
had any more of those strange glowing episodes?" she
asked. Usagi had told her what happened in Nerima in
August, and she had been studying what it could possibly
be.
"No," Mamoru said. He looked over at Luna, wanting
to continue the conversation. His eyes landed on a clock
that sat by the TV and suddenly jumped up. "I've got a
class in ten minutes!" he cried.
Luna groaned. "Mamoru-san, you're usually better
than that about going to class!"
"Hai, hai, but this is different." Mamoru grabbed
his satchel from next to the door and left the apartment as
quickly as he good. Luna and Diana followed him, Luna
shaking her head.
"Matte, Mamoru-san!" Luna called out. Mamoru stopped
by the elevator and turned around.
"I think you forgot something," Luna said, motioning
to Chibi Chibi, who had walked outside at this point.
Mamoru groaned and ran a hand through his unruly hair and
ran back down to the apartment door and picked up Chibi
Chibi.
"I suppose she'll have to go with me," he said. "I
don't have enough time to find someone to watch her." With
that, he took off again toward the elevator.
**********
Moreno looked up from his work just as Misora walked
into the labortory. He pulled off the safety goggles he
wore and gazed at his sister. "Hino-san says you've been
lacking in your work lately," he commented. "Something
going on?"
"Iie, onii-chan," Misora lied, walking over to the
table where Moreno was bent over a gun. "What is that?"
she asked.
Hino Soun, their boss, had asked Moreno to
construct the gun as an alternate means of obtaining people's
hopeful souls. Ever since April, Misora had been trying to
obtain hopeful souls for reasons Hino had been very
secretive on. Despite some successes, they had been outsmarted
by the Sailor Senshi using their current method. Misora asked
her brother, a history professor at Azabu University, to join
their campaign.
"I've been quite interested in the work of the Death
Busters," Moreno commented. "They had very innovative ways
of trying to steal pure korokos from people. One of them
by the name of Eudial was very innovative indeed. She created
weapon known as the 'Fire Buster.' She tried to get a
patent on it, but died before she had a chance to complete
the paperwork. It was a weapon that sucessfully battered
down Sailor Moon before she attained her "super form" during the
battle for the Holy Grail."
"So what does this Eudial have to do with us?" Misora
leaned against the table.
"I'm changing some things on her 'Fire Buster' and
hope to compact - it into a smaller size," Moreno commented.
"This weapon will take the place of the standard youma and
enable you to take hopeful souls much quicker. This increases
getaway time. A flick of a switch and this machine turns from
soul-taking to Senshi-killing."
"Not bad," Misora commented absently. Moreno glanced
at her. "Nothing is wrong, hai?" he asked.
"Nothing is wrong," Misora sighed. She pushed
herself off the table and walked out of the room. Moreno
gazed after her and frowned. He knew something was up with
his younger sister. She had been like this just two years
earlier when he closed his eyes and fought off the pain of
the mutiple tragedy which befell her that day.
**********
Mamoru ran into the large lecture hall and leaned
against the door to catch his breath. It was just his luck
that he caught every red light on the way to Azabu
University, then had to park in the furthest commuter
parking lot from his class as humanly possible. Dashing
across the mile-wide campus had not been easy with his
satchel and Chibi Chibi in his arms.
He scanned the rows of desks and noticed the
professor had already started lecturing. He saw one empty
seat in the front of the room and one in the back. He
immediately moved to the empty seat in the back of the room
and sat down, setting his satchel on the desktop, not
noticing a sign written in kanji posted on the back of the
chair. Mamoru kept Chibi Chibi in his lap and leaned over
to whisper to her.
"Now, you be quiet for a little bit, ne Chibi Chibi?"
he asked her. "This class is only two hours long...more like
an hour and thirty minutes now." Chibi Chibi simply smiled
at him.
Luna walked up to the door and squinted at the sign
on the back of Mamoru's chair. She started chuckling to
herself and slipped quietly into the corner of the room
where no one could see her. Diana glanced at the sign and
tried to read it, then shook her head. She followed Luna
and sat down next to her.
"Ne, Momma," she whispered. "I can't see the sign on
the back of Mamoru-sama's chair. What does it say?"
"Oh, you'll find out," Luna said with a sly grin.
Meanwhile, Mamoru held Chibi Chibi in his lap with
one hand and scribbled notes with the other. He tried to
follow what his professor was saying.
At the front of the room, Onwa Aijou lectured to his
class of first-year medical students about the kidneys.
The chief professor of urology at the Azabu School of
Medicine, he had given his lecture every semester of every
school year for the past 22 years. Every semester, the
same lectures about the workings and diseases of the
kidneys and the urinary track.
As Onwa droned on, a sharp crack sounded out in the
lecture room. He paused in his lecture and peered over the
edge of the spectacles he wore at the 42 students seated in
the room. Everyone one of them had a serious expression on
their faces with the exception of one of the students in
the back of the room holding a little girl in his lap. The
man's blue eyes were full of panic and he glanced around
the room quickly.
Suddenly, another crack sounded and the bottom of
Mamoru's seat caved in, leaving him stuck in the bottom of
the seat, his body making a V-shape with his arms and legs
waving in the air above him. The student next to him had
grabbed Chibi Chibi just as the seat caved in.
Onwa stopped lecturing completly, leaned on his
podium and studied the student in the back of the room. He
briefly consulted his roll book and noticed only one
student had come in late. "Ah, Chiba Mamoru. Nice of you
to come to class today. What a grand entrance as well.
What shall you do for an encore?"
"Funny!" Chibi Chibi exclaimed. "Do again!"
Not likely, Mamoru thought in a panic. He felt the
hands of several students trying to pull him out of the
chair, but he was stuck tight. In his struggle to try to
maintain whatever was left of his dignity, he forgot about
Chibi Chibi being in the classroom with him.
However, Onwa noticed her. He stepped down from the
platform the podium stood on in the front of the room and
walked down the aisle to the student who held Chibi Chibi.
He took her from the student and held her in his arms.
"Chibi chibi?" Chibi Chibi questioned, staring at
Onwa. The professor was no small man by any means. He had
a large stomach and also grey hair and a small gotee to
match. His eyes, a darker shade of grey than his hair,
were kind and laugh lines edged his mouth.
"Well now, you're the youngest medical student I've
ever had in one of my classes," Onwa said to her. "What do
you have to say for yourself, little lady?"
Chibi Chibi looked pensive for a moment, then pointed
at Mamoru. "Funny!"
"Hai, Chiba-san is funny," Onwa glanced at the
struggling man in the chair. They watched as the students
turned Mamoru and the desk over to the side and pulled the
desk off.
Chibi Chibi patted the Onwa's stomach. "Santa?" she
asked.
"No, no!" Onwa said with a laugh. "I'm just a stand-
in," he said with a wink at her.
Mamoru struggled to his feet with the help of his
classmates, ignoring the cramping in his stomach from being
squashed. He bowed slightly before the professor. "Gomen
ne, sensei, demo..."
"Save your breath, Chiba-san, I take it you have to
take care of your daughter today," Onwa handed Chibi Chibi
back over to Mamoru.
"Demo, she's not my..."
"She's a very cute little girl. And quiet too. I
like that. Now, back to your desks, students, we only have
an hour of lecture left." Onwa turned around and headed
back toward the front of class. Mamoru knelt down and
scooped up his notebook and pen and followed the professor
to the empty seat in the front of the class. His cheeks
beet red, he sat down in the chair and started scribbing
notes again. Chibi Chibi sat on his lap and watched him.
**********
Misora walked down the street in the Jyuban district
of Tokyo, absently window-shopping as she strolled along.
She did not notice the items in each window she passed, for
she was too lost in her own thoughts. Finally, she stopped before
one store and paused.
She thought about what happened in Nerima and the odd
power Tuxedo Kamen had used when he had stolen the
ginzuishou from her. The senshi are growing stronger, she
realized. It won't be long before they will be able to
defeat us.
Misora looked into the window and her heart stopped
at the display of baby clothes arranged on dress dummies.
She laid one hand on the window glass and gazed longingly
at the clothing. She closed her eyes, but not before a
single tear rolled down her cheek. She quickly turned away
from the window and sighed.
Her life had been taken from her two years earlier.
Hino had been there to help pick up the pieces and put it
back together. Her work as his secretary gave her time to
put her past life on hold and just fill her days with the
ability to do something. His request that she help him
obtain hopeful souls had given her life even more purpose.
Misora gazed at the sky. She never wanted to kill
anyone in her life before now. But the Sailor Senshi were
growing stronger and were standing in Hino's way of getting
what he wanted. She owed her life to Hino. The Tokyo
street scene faded from her mind. Her mind too her back to
the day she had been standing in a hospital chapel, dagger in
hand ready to be plunged into her heart. She paused, hearing
someone behind her. Misora turned around to see a white flash
appear before her. In her surprise, she sucked in a large cloud of
sparkling green dust that had appeared with the flash of light.
That had been the moment she met Hino Soun.
She balled one hand into a fist. She had to stop the
Sailor Senshi and their friends somehow, and she needed to
start now. She could not wait for Hino to tell her what to
do. She owed him this much for failing to get the
ginzuishou. She smiled, lowering her gaze back to street
level. She would start with the very man who prevented her
from obtaining the ginzuishou in Nerima, Tuxedo Kamen...Chiba
Mamoru.
**********
"Onwa-sensei is a very understanding person," Diana
commented as she watched Mamoru place Chibi Chibi on the
sofa in the living room of his apartment. He had made a
makeshift crib for her by pushing the high-backed chairs in
the room to one end of the sofa to prevent her from falling
off it. He placed the sleeping child on the cushions,
making sure her head was on the pillow he placed at one end
of the sofa. He pulled a blanket up over her and watched
the little girl sleep.
"Hai, he's the doctor who will be overseeing me
when I start my internship at Azabu Medical Center when
as a third year medical student," Mamoru said, then yawned.
He gazed back down at the little girl. Luna studied Mamoru
carefully as he watched Chibi Chibi and noticed a look of longing
come into his eyes.
"Mamoru-sama, what happened to your parents?" Diana
asked suddenly.
Luna's eyes widened and she shook her head violently
at her daughter, but Diana walked over to Mamoru's feet and
looked up at his face after she asked her question.
Mamoru picked up Diana and began to pet her. "They
died in a car accident on my sixth birthday," he said in a
low voice.
"So who loved you when your parents died?" Diana
asked.
A bleak look came in his eyes. "No one...," he said,
letting the word trail off. Then the bleakness disappeared
and he smiled at Diana. "But, now I have Usako and Chibi-
Usa."
"Don't you want to marry Usagi-sama?" Diana asked.
"We are getting married very soon," Mamoru pointed
out to her.
"Do you want to have a baby?" Diana asked.
"Diana!" Luna cried out, mortified that her daughter
was being so bold. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.
Diana is from the future, just like Chibi-Usa-chan, she
thought. She would know if Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san had
another child after Chibi-Usa. Luna's eyes narrowed. She
wondered if Diana was trying to tell Mamoru something about
his future.
"Hai, Usako and I will eventually have Chibi-Usa,"
Mamoru commented, absently stroking the cat. "I guess
taking care of Chibi Chibi's good practice."
Diana yawned then nodded. Mamoru kept stroking her,
but walked into the bedroom where his laptop computer sat
open on his bed, the screen lit up with the Microsoft Word
program. Diana jumped down and he sat himself on the bed
so his back rested against the headboard with pillows
behind him for support and the laptop sat before his
crossed legs. Books were spread out over the comforter.
Luna followed and jumped onto the bed. "You look
tired, Mamoru-san," she commented. "You should get some
sleep," she said, gazing at the dark circles under his
eyes. She suspected he had not been sleeping well and the
baby-sitting job had only begun.
"I'm fine," Mamoru commented, staring at one of the
books. "I need to get this paper done for one of my
classes."
He started to type, but a question nagged him at the
back of his mind. He paused in typing and stared at Diana,
who had curled up at the end of the bed and was watching
him. He thought about how to phrase his question to her,
then shrugged. Mamoru typed a couple more sentences before
turning his attention back to Diana.
"Diana?" he asked. "You don't need to tell me this
if you don't want to, but I have a question for you."
"Hai, Mamoru-san?" Diana sat up.
Mamoru thought about all of the questions he wanted
to know about his future. His thoughts strayed to Chibi
Chibi and the way the little girl made him feel. He loved
Chibi-Usa with all of his heart, and knew he loved Chibi
Chibi as well. Being an only child, he longed to have a
big family. It had been a desire he'd suppressed until
meeting Usagi. He thought of the consequences if he found
out about his future and decided not to pursue his thoughts
any further, even to the simple question of whether or not
he and Usagi had more children. "It's nothing," he told
the young cat, then went back to typing his paper.
After a while, the words on the screen began to grow
blurry before him. He yawned for a moment and gazed at the
laptop screen. The black words had completely blurred to
the point where it looked like thin fuzzy line streaking
across the screen. He laid back against his pillows and
close his eyes, figuring he would rest for just a moment
before completing his paper.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Chibi Chibi stood up
on the sofa. She climbed over the arm of the sofa, which
Mamoru had not blocked off, then snuck into his bedroom to
to see Mamoru asleep on the bed, the laptop next to his
outstretched legs. She climbed onto the bed and pushed the
laptop out of reach in case he knocked it off the bed in the
middle of the night, then grabbed a blanket folded at the end
of the bed. It took her several moments because the blanket was so
awkward, but she managed to pull it over Mamoru's legs and
left the blanket pooled around his waist.
He shifted in his sleep so he lay on his side and
Chibi Chibi yawned, tired from the work she had done. She
crawled over and snuggled up next to Mamoru, grabbing a
small amount of the blanket for herself. She stared up
into Mamoru's face with wide, curious blue eyes. She had a
serious expression on her face for a moment, but then
smiled.
"Night night, Mamo-chan," she whispered, then closed
her eyes to fall asleep just as Mamoru's arm instinctly
circled the little girl.
**********
He stood alone in the middle of Jyuban Park, gazing
at the rising sun. Glancing around, he saw he was alone
and smiled. Dawn was his favorite time of day. It was a
time of new beginnings, of new hope.
"Mamo-chan."
He turned around to see Usagi standing behind him
wearing a simple white dress. He glanced down at himself
to see he wore a navy blue dress suit with a slightly
lighter blue necktie. He smiled at Usagi and held his arms
open and she rushed into them.
He buried his face in her soft, strawberry-scented
hair and smiled against the top of her head. Suddenly,
Usagi pulled back and tilted her head towards his, closing
her eyes as she moved her lips toward his. Eagerly, he
took her lips with his own and began to kiss her.
His arms wrapped around her, bringing her into closer
contact with his body. She moaned slightly, causing her
lips to part and his tounge to slip inside. He carefully
explored every crevice in her wonderful mouth, savoring
each and every surface he could reach. She didn't respond
much, but he didn't care, figuring he was overwhelming her
senses. He pulled away to gaze into her eyes.
"Aishiteru, Usako," he said, huskily.
"Oh, Mamoru-san," her lips moved down to nuzzled his
neck. "Wake up, Mamoru-san."
He lifted his head up and gazed down into her blue
eyes for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Demo, Usako, you never call me Mamoru-san," he pointed
out.
"She doesn't, Mamoru-san, but I do."
Mamoru blinked once, then twice. Suddenly, Usagi's
face was replaced by something white that he had buried his
face into. Slowly, Mamoru lifted his head to see Luna
sitting on the bed near his head. He glanced down and his
face turned red at what he had been doing and what Luna
must had seen him doing.
He had been making out with his pillow.
"I don't even think Usagi-chan's made out with her
pillow like that," Luna said with a sly wink.
Mamoru grabbed the cat and turned over on his back,
holding her high in the air above her. "You never saw me
doing that, got it?" he told her.
Luna did not answer, just smiled at him. He groaned
and knew that the news of Chiba Mamoru making out with his
pillow because he was so desperate to have his fiance back
home would hit Crown's in less than 15 minutes. Motoki
would never let him live this one down, he realized.
Neither would the rest of the senshi once they heard.
Maybe committing seppeko wouldn't be a bad idea at the
moment.
"Momma! Mamoru-sama!" Diana ran into the bedroom at
that moment. "Chibi Chibi-chan's gone!"
"Huh?" Mamoru shot up in bed, still holding onto
Luna. They both stared at Diana as if she had lost her
mind.
"I've looked everywhere for her!" Diana exclaimed.
"The front door to the apartment's open too."
"Shimatta!" Mamoru jumped off the bed, Luna jumping
out of his arms as he did so. He ran out the apartment
with the cats on his heels, not realizing that he left the
door open as he left.
**********
Misora looked up from the phone book and reached for
the pad of paper which sat next to her. She quickly
scribbed down Mamoru's address and tore off the paper from
the pad. She slipped it into the top pocket of her purse
and walked into the empty lab.
She hadn't seen Hino for several days, but she knew
he was involved with his work in the Liberal Democratic
Party since elections were drawing near. She knew he hoped
to become the party's president one day. As for Moreno,
she knew he was giving his history 101 lectures that day
and would nowhere near the labortory tucked away in the
basement of Hino's large mansion. She picked up the small
version of the "Fire Buster," which Moreno called "Kontsu"
or "Soul Stealer." She grabbed the kontou gun off the
table and slipped it into her purse and ran out of the
room.
**********
Unazuki waved to Michiru as the aqua-haired woman
pushed open the door to Crown's Fruit Parlor.
"Konnichi'wa, Michiru-san," she said, picking her tray up
from the bar. On it sat a large soda, a small child-sized
soda, a burger, friends, and a white sack with colorful
drawings on it. Michiru smiled back at her. Crown's
wasn't usually the place she chose to go, but she had
noticed Mamoru sitting in a booth as she passed by the
store. She wanted to discuss the enemy with him and more
about what happened in Nerima.
"What is this?" Michiru asked, admiring the bag on
the tray. The colorful drawings were done in crayon and
seemed to be aimed at young children.
"It's a children's meal, something Poppa wanted to
try," Unazuki explained. "I managed to get Mamoru-san to
buy one, but I suppose in his current state of mind, I
could get him to spend a million yen and he wouldn't blink
an eye," she laughed and started walking toward the large
corner booth.
"Isn't Mamoru-san a little too old for a child's
meal?" Michiru asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
"It's not for him. It's for Chibi Chibi-chan,"
Unazuki threw Michiru a look over her shoulder. "Haven't
you heard? Usagi-chan's ojisan got sich and her family
went to Kobe to take care of him. Usagi-chan asked Mamoru-
san to baby sit Chibi Chibi while they're gone. Everyone's
been talking about it. I suppose it'll give him a good
dose of fatherhood before marrying Usagi-chan."
The women approached the booth. It was the usual
corner booth the senshi sat in. Books, papers, and a
laptop computer covered the large table's surface. Michiru
and Unazuki exchanged a smile.
Sitting among the mess was a very exhausted Mamoru.
Next to him, Chibi Chibi sat playing with a paper airplane.
He had his head buried in a thick medical textbook, one
hand propping the book open against the napkin holder while
the other scribbed down notes.
"Lunch time!" Unazuki sang out cheerfully, moving
some of the papers on the table to make a clear spot for
the tray. She handed the child's meal to Chibi Chibi.
Michiru slid in the booth opposite of Mamoru. She
smiled at the harried man. Chibi Chibi reached for her bag
and immediately pulled out the small doll inside it and
started to play with it for a moment before abandoning it
for her food. She smiled as the child began to devour her
meal with the speed of Usagi or Chibi-Usa. She is so much
like them, she thought. She frowned. There is no way she
can be Galaxia's star seed, she thought. But, if the child
was not her star seed, who could she be?
Chibi Chibi started to reach for Mamoru's fries, but
he pushed the tray away from her. "No, Chibi Chibi.
You're as bad as Usako," he said, looking up at her. He
then noticed Michiru sitting across from him. He pushed
his hair out of his eyes and managed a smile for her.
"Konnichi'wa, Michiru-san."
"Konnichi'wa, Mamoru-san, Chibi Chibi," Michiru
replied. "Tea, please," she told Unazuki.
"Sure, coming up!" The girl went off to fill the
order.
Mamoru abandoned the textbook and fought back a yawn.
He reached for the food, also feeling ravenous. He gazed
at Chibi Chibi. So did Michiru. They watched her quietly
finish her food, then amuse herself with the doll.
"I love children," Michiru admitted. Mamoru gazed at
Michiru in surprise. The elegant senshi usually did not
make comments like that out loud. He felt that like
himself, Michiru was a largely private person who kept most
of her feelings reserved. He reached for the hamburger and
unwrapped it.
"Do you want kids one day?" he asked her, so tired
that he did not stop to think the question really was not a logical
one.
A sad look appeared in Michiru's eyes. "It is not in
my destiny," she whispered. Chibi Chibi looked up at this
comment and stared at Michiru. The little girl abandoned
her toy and crawled into Michiru's lap. The woman smiled
and lovingly patted the top of her head.
Mamoru gazed at her. From the visions of the future
he had managed to glimpse during the fight with the Black
Moon Family, he did not recall seeing any of the senshi
with children. He wondered if any of them other than
himself and Usagi would become parents. His gaze went from
Chibi Chibi up to Michiru and back down to the little girl.
He hoped maybe there would be more children in Crystal
Tokyo after all. But, from the signs she gave, Chibi-Usa
did not seem happy in the 30th century. Was that because
she had no friends?
Michiru gazed at Chibi Chibi. "Mamoru-san, we must
talk about Misora," she said. "She is becoming a bigger
threat than we thought. Apparently, she's fled the house
that we originally traced her to. We need to keep looking
for her, especially now that the enemy is succeeding in
taking hopeful souls from people."
Michiru sighed. "If only we could figure out what
they're doing," she commented before hearing a soft snore
coming from across the booth. She looked up to see
Mamoru's head had drooped down until his chin touched his
chest. He was fast asleep. "Mamoru-san," she said in a
low voice.
Chibi Chibi climbed out of Michiru's lap and moved
over to Mamoru. She started pushing his arm. "Mamo-chan,
Mamo-chan," she chanted as she pushed. His arm gave way
and Mamoru's face landed in his unfinished hamburger.
Michiru stared at Mamoru in shock for a moment, then her
gentle laughter rang out like music over the store.
**********
Mamoru pushed open his apartment door, trying to
stifle a yawn. Chibi Chibi, Luna, and Diana sat next to
him.
"Good thing you didn't mess up your clothes," Luna
commented, walking into the apartment ahead of him. "I
swear, Mamoru-san, you've been around Usagi-chan far too
long."
"Hai, hai," Mamoru commented, letting his satchel
slide down to the ground. He leaned against the wall and
let his gaze fall on Chibi Chibi. This was only the second
day he was taking care of the little girl and he felt like
he had already been fighting World War III for a year.
After Chibi Chibi had wandered out on her own that
morning, he had spent an hour looking all over the Azabu
and Jyuban districts for her before finding her at Crown's
Fruit Parlor with Unazuki. He had carried his satchel with
him and figured he could get more work done at the Fruit
Parlor rather than staying at home. His bed looked far too
tempting at that point.
Now, he didn't care at all, he just wanted to get
some sleep. The paper he had been working on had left him
going on just three hours of sleep in the past 36 hours
before Chibi Chibi entered the picture. He took off his
shoes and started toward his bedroom, not even bothering
put on any slippers. "Ne, Luna, you'll take care of Chibi
Chibi?" he asked in a slurred voice as he stumbled toward
the bedroom
Diana gazed at the front door and her forehead
wrinkled in concentration. She noticed Mamoru had to open
the door, but she knew that when they fled after Chibi
Chibi earlier, he left the door standing wide open. Her
eyes widened in panic. She turned toward Mamoru.
"Mamoru-sama!" she cried. "Don't go in your
bedroom?"
By this time, Mamoru had his hand on the doorknob and
turned slightly toward Diana, trying to acknowledge her.
"Nani?" he asked her a second before the door was pulled
open and Misora stood before him. He frowned and backed
away from the woman.
"Konnichi'wa, Chiba-san," Misora said, walking out of
the room. "Ne, Tuxedo Kamen."
Mamoru lifted his hand into the air and used a deft
hand motion to produce a rose. "I suppose then I won't
keep this a secret," he said, lifting the rose in the air.
Before he could concentrate on it to perform his
transformation, he felt something hard hit his wrist and he
dropped the rose. He looked down at the ground to see one
of his decorative stone coasters lying at his feet next to
the rose.
Misora reached in her purse and pulled out the kontsu
gun. She aimed it at Mamoru. "I'll now take your hopeful
soul," she said, then squeezed the trigger. Mamoru ducked
out of the way, but not fast enough. A white, web-like
substance shot out of the gun and wrapped itself around
Mamoru's leg. He fell to the ground and rolled onto his
back. Misora flipped a switch on the gun and shot it at
Mamoru's chest. He hollered as a small dart pierced his
chest and a golden, sparkling substance rose from it.
"Kami-sama," Luna whispered. "She's stealing his
hopeful soul!"
"Chibi chibi!" Chibi Chibi yelled, then dove at
Misora. The woman whirled around, surprised to see the
little girl under her feet, and backed away. She tripped
over her own feet and tumbled to the ground. Chibi Chibi
skirted around the fallen woman and headed toward Mamoru.
Luna and Diana joined her as Chibi Chibi knelt down
and took Mamoru's hand in her own. A soft red glow started
to form around her.
Luna's eyes grew wide. Masaka, does this mean
Mamoru-san is powering-up as well, she thought, gazing at
him. What did this all mean?
**********
Chibi-Usa sat on her knees on the sofa staring out
the window of Satoru-ojisan, Ikuko's brother. Ikuko was up at
the hospital visiting him while Shingo had found an arcade
near the house. Usagi had gone out to get groceries. She
sighed and rested her chin on her crossed arms, which were
on the window sill. She was bored. She had read her
books, even done her homework. There was no game consoles
in the house and the books Satoru had looked boring.
Suddenly, a pink glow started radiating from her
chest. Chibi-Usa straightened up, then gazed down to see
her brooch was glowing. She gasped in surprise.
"Usa-chan."
Chibi-Usa looked behind her to see a young man with
white hair dressed in white robes standing behind her. She
turned around and sat down hard on her bottom.
"Elios!" she cried in surprise. Elios reached over
and took her hand, pulling her to her feet.
"Usa-chan," he said, his voice full of emotion.
"My Lady Serenity."
"Oh, I've missed you so much!" Chibi-Usa started to
hug, but he took a step back, still holding on to her hand.
Tears filled her eyes. "Doushite?" she asked, her
voice shaking.
"I have a duty to protect the prince," he said. "I
can not stay long. But, I had to see you. I had to speak
to you again. But the prince needs my help now."
"Elios...what's wrong with Mamo-chan? Is he okay?
What's wrong with my poppa?" Chibi-Usa's voice grew shrill
with panic.
"Things are going as they should." Elios leaned over
and kissed Chibi-Usa's cheek. "I'll see you again,
maiden."
She gentily brushed her cheek. "Elios...," she
breathed just as he disappeared. Tears rolled down her
cheek, and she started pacing the length of the room,
trying to control her panic. Chibi-Usa looked up as the
front door opened and she saw Usagi trying to carry in bags
of groceries. She ran over to her.
"Usagi!" she cried. "Something's wrong with Mamo-
chan!"
"Nani?" Usagi let the groceries slide to the ground
as Chibi-Usa explained Elios' hurried visit. Panic flashed
in her blue eyes for a moment, then replaced by
seriousness. She had felt odd in the car on the way back to
their uncle's house and felt something was wrong with Mamoru.
Elios' visit confirmed it.
"Go pack," she told Chibi-Usa. "I'll call Momma and
see if we can go on home ahead of her."
Chibi-Usa nodded and ran upstairs. Usagi watched her
for a moment, then closed her eyes. She wrapped her
fingers around her brooch and silently prayed. Mamo-chan,
please be okay, she thought.
**********
Misora slowly picked herself up and glared at Chibi
Chibi and the cats. "I will not let you have him!" she
screamed, then dove for Chibi Chibi. The little girl
looked up just as Misora reached her and snatched her up in
her arms, breaking her contact with Mamoru.
"Chibi Chibi-chan!" Luna cried, not caring that
Misora heard her. She closed her eyes and concentrated,
trying to send out an all-call signal to the senshi.
Misora glanced down at Luna and kicked her, sending the cat
flying into the wall. Diana cried out and ran to her.
Misora pushed Chibi Chibi into the hall closet and
closed the door, turning the key in the lock. She turned
back to face a barely-conscious Mamoru and flipped another
switch on the kontsu. She used it to start sucking the
hopeful soul into a tube connected to the gun.
Mamoru watched this, feeling strangely detached from
the situation. He felt Chibi Chibi trying to give him some
of her power, but failed to make a link with his. He
fought to keep his eyes open, to do something as his
hopeful soul was taken from him. In a panic, he realized
that he could probably die.
Suddenly, all hope seemed to be gone for him. He
felt as if he didn't have anything to live for. The
hardships, the pain...nothing was worth it. He closed his
eyes. It would be so easy at this moment just to rest and
let everything just slip away...
"You have everything to live for Chiba Mamoru...ne,
Prince Endymion."
Mamoru fought the weight holding his eyes shut. He
opened his eyes to find himself standing in a white space.
He glanced down at himself and noticed he was completely
naked. Before he could begin to feel embarassed about it,
he noticed someone stood across from him. He looked up to
see Elios, Priest and Guardian of Elysion standing before
him.
"Elios...," Mamoru whispered.
Elios nodded to him. "It is time for you to come
into your own, my prince. Do you remember the Dead Moon
Circus and how they stole my body along with the Golden
Crystal? How I held its power in the horn of my pegasus
form?"
Mamoru nodded in response. "Hai, Sailor Moon and
Sailor Chibi Moon used its power combined with their own to
defeat the circus."
"The Golden Crystal was not at its full strength when
Sailor Chibi Moon received it," Elios said. "Even then,
the transference was already taking place. You felt the
power of the Golden Crystal earlier when fighting the Death
Busters and Mistress 9. It was the power of the Golden
Crystal that kept Usa-chan alive."
"Usa-chan, ne?" Mamoru cocked an eyebrow at Elios'
statement. Light red stained the priest's cheeks, but he
kept on going.
"Since you first became Tuxedo Kamen five years ago,
there has been a continual transference of power from
Elysion to you, Endymion. Now," Elios held his hands out
toward Mamoru's chest. "It is time for you to wield the
full power of the Golden Crystal."
Mamoru gazed down at his chest and gasped when he saw
a bright golden glow form in the center, just as it did in
Nerima when he came into contact with the ginzuishou.
Slowly, Elios drew a golden crystal from his chest, about
the size and shape of the ginzuishou. Eyes widened with
shock, he gazed at the crystal as it slowly floated above
his eyes.
**********
In the car, Usagi shook her head suddenly and pulled
off to the side of the road. She glanced down at her body
as it began to radiate with a golden glow. What is this?
she thought.
In the back seat, Chibi-Usa did the same. She gazed
at her hands in wonder. Some new power, she thought.
Shingo simply stared at the two of them in shock.
In a hotel room in Osaka, Rei looked up from the
music she had been studying. She frowned. Something is
happening, she thought.
Minako burst into the room at that moment. Rei's
eyes met hers and she nodded. "I can feel it," Minako
said. "A new energy filling the earth."
At the cooking school in Kyoto, Makoto's spoon
dropped to the floor. "Mako-chan, what is it?" Aneko asked
as Makoto knelt to pick it up. Makoto grasped the spoon
and closed her eyes. A new light, she thought.
In her dorm room at Harvard, Ami suddenly sprang up
in bed. She gazed out the window at the full moon. A new
hope she realized.
In a large house in Azabu, Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru,
and Setsuna stopped eating. They stared at each other.
Setsuna put down her fork, and gave the Outer Senshi a
serious look. "It has been done. The time is close at
hand," she said.
"He is in trouble," Hotaru stood up from her seat, a
serious look on her young face. "We must help him."
The other senshi nodded and rose from the table,
grasping their brooches.
**********
The light faded. Elios nodded. "It is done then."
Elios produced a staff at this point. With one hand,
he guided the Golden Crystal until it attached itself to
the top of the staff. Mamoru recognized the staff as the
one King Endymion had when they visited Crystal Tokyo.
Elios held the staff for a moment, and it shrank down to a
small round object. Mamoru noticed it looked like a pocket
watch. The watch lifted from Elios' hand and moved over to
his own.
Mamoru took the watch. "Open it and concentrate on
it with your new power," Elios instructed. "Pray to the
gods that protect this earth and to the sun, your
guardian."
He nodded in response. Suddenly, the white space
dissapated leaving Mamoru standing in the middle of his
living room, his hopeful soul floating before him. He
started to feel light-headed, but held up the watch instead
of giving in to the tempting unconsciousness. He pushed
a button at its side and it opened. He closed his eyes and
concentrated on the Golden Crystal.
Suddenly, his clothes were torn off him and he was
surrounded by a blinding light. Before he could register
the fact that he was naked once again, new clothes started
to form around him. The light died away and he realized
that he was now dressed as Tuxedo Kamen, but with changes.
First of all, the hat that he usually wore was gone.
He was glad about that, he hated the thing. The tuxedo was
more elaborate than the one he had worn before with the
most striking feature being a star-shaped medallion pinned
to the collar. The watch had elongated into a staff and he
held onto it. He aimed the staff at the gun Misora held in
her hand and a golden beam shot out of it and destroyed the
gun. Misora screamed and jumped back, feeling the power of
the Golden Crystal wash over her for a moment. She
stumbled back toward the apartment door and fled.
Mamoru's hopeful soul glittered in the air and he
took a deep breath to draw it back into his body. He
quickly closed the front door so none of his neighbors
could look in the room and opened the closet door to let
Chibi Chibi out.
The little girl smiled at him. "Power," she
whispered. "You now have power, Tuxedo Kamen-sama. Part
of my mission has been fufilled."
Mamoru dropped to one knee, feeling dizziness wash
over him. He had never heard Chibi Chibi speak in a full
sentence before. His eyes narrowed slight. Part of her
mission was to give him power? What was the rest then?
He slowly picked himself up and sat on the sofa. He
pushed one hand through his dark hair and surveyed the mess
his apartment had turned into.
"Look at it this way, Mamoru-sama, you said you
wanted to get a new apartment for you and Usagi-sama,"
Diana said. Luna sighed in response. She limped over to
the sofa, sore from where Misora had kicked her in the
side. Chibi Chibi wandered from the room.
"Well," Mamoru said, shooting a glance at the cats.
"It can't get any worse."
"WORLD SHAKING!"
Suddenly, Mamoru's front door flew into the living
room as Sailor Uranus' attack blew it off its hinges.
Mamoru grabbed the cats off the back of the sofa and hit
the ground just in time to prevent getting hit by the door.
The door fell onto the sofa. Mamoru lifted his head and
looked back toward the doorway to see Sailors Uranus,
Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn gathered around the doorway.
"Oooh, you did it now, Haruka-poppa," Saturn said.
"I just meant to go for the lock," Uranus replied,
sheepishly.
Neptune and Pluto exchanged looks and shook their
heads slowly.
Uranus walked in and scanned the area. She whistled.
"Wow, looks like a battle took place here or something."
Her expression turned serious. "We felt something happen
during the battle, Mamoru-san. Are you okay?"
Mamoru got to his feet slowly, wincing from the
bruises he recieved during the battle. "Hai, I'm fine.
Maybe Setsuna can answer your question better," he shot a
glance at the emerald-haired senshi. All eyes turned to
her.
Pluto smiled at all of them. "Mamoru-san is finally
growing into his destiny," she said.
"What does that mean?" Saturn asked.
"You'll find out soon enough."
The four outer senshi detransformed where they stood.
Michiru walked into the apartment. "Where's Chibi Chibi-
chan?" she asked.
Mamoru looked around the remains of his living room,
but did not see the little girl anywhere. He ran into the
kitchen, shards of glass from the window cutting through
his socks and into his feet. He ignored the pain and
stumbled into his bedroom. What he saw made him smile.
The others followed him and exchanged smiles as well as
they watched Chibi Chibi sleeping admist the debris strewn
across Mamoru's bed.
"This is quite a mess you have here," Michiru
commented. "You can't stay here tonight."
"I have an idea of where we can stay," Luna said,
walking into the room. Everyone looked down at her and she
smiled. She sat back on her haunches. "I know where
Usagi's okaa-san keeps the extra house key," she said with
a wink.
**********
Misora wandered down the street, not caring where she
walked. In her mind, images of a man and child which she
had buried were brought to the surface once again. She
wandered down the street until she reached a cemetary.
Near the entrance sat two headstones side by side, one
large one and a small one.
Slowly, she sank to the ground, grabbing onto to the
larger headstone. She burst into tears and held the smooth
stone tightly in her arms, sobbing two names over and over
again.
"Tanjiro...Akiko...Tanjiro...Akiko..."
The woman's sobs echoed into the night.
**********
"I have never been so glad to get home in my life,"
Usagi said, opening the front door to the Tsukino home.
"I'm glad Momma let us take the car and come back ahead of
her."
"Hai, me too," Shingo said, dragging in two suitcases
behind him. He put the luggage down and stretched. "I'm
even looking forward to going back to school!"
"Kobe has got to be the most boring place I've ever
been," Chibi-Usa said, walking in behind Shingo, carrying a
smaller suitcase and wearing her bunny-shaped backpack.
"It's even worse than the time Poppa took us to visit some
art museum in Paris. Even Momma was bored," she added,
winking at Usagi.
Usagi grinned. Sounds just like Mamo-chan, she
thought. She stopped for a moment and frowned. "I think I
need to call Mamo-chan," she said. "Everything feels
normal again, but I know something happened."
"The outer senshi would assist him, wouldn't they?"
Chibi-Usa asked.
"They would have to," Usagi admitted, knowing deep in
her heart that other than throwing roses and distracting
the enemy, Tuxedo Kamen did not have the power the senshi
did. It was something she had wondered about lately
because Mamoru was suppose to be her equal.
Shingo walked past the living room, then stopped. He
slid backwards and peered into the living room. "Say,
Usagi, look at this."
Usagi and Chibi-Usa walked over to Shingo and looked
into the living room to see Mamoru asleep on the sofa.
He lay on his back and Chibi Chibi slept on his chest, his
arms wrapped around the little girl. A blanket covered
both of them. Luna and Diana slept on the back of the
sofa.
"Oh, this is too kawaii!" Chibi-Usa said, taking off
her bunny backpack and rummaging through it. She found her
camera and took several pictures of the two sleeping.
Usagi walked over to Mamoru and shook his shoulder.
"Mamo-chan, wake up," she whispered. "What're you doing
here?"
After a moment, Mamoru opened his eyes. He glanced
down to make sure Chibi Chibi was still safe in his arms,
then rubbed his eyes with the back of one hand. He looked
up to see Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Shingo peering down at him.
"Usako," he whispered, then smiled.
"Why are you here?" Usagi asked. "Is everything
okay?"
He nodded. "Hai, it is now. My apartment's a mess,
so Luna told me where the spare key was hidden and I used
it to get in. Gomen ne."
"It's okay, what happened?"
"I'll tell you about it later," Mamoru said. Usagi
frowned, remembering the golden warmth that had filled her
the day before.
Usagi sighed and Chibi-Usa nudged her. She looked
down to see Mamoru had fallen back asleep and she smiled.
He looks so exhausted, she thought. But, it looks like he
and Chibi Chibi had a really good week together.
Mamo-chan, what happened yesterday, she thought.
I hope you'll tell me soon. She leaned over and gave him a
kiss before leaving the room to put her things away.
On the back of the sofa, Diana yawned and stretched
her legs. She sat up and gazed down at Mamoru and Chibi
Chibi, then smiled. She jumped down next to Mamoru's head
and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"I know the question you wanted to ask me the other
night," she whispered. "And the answer is, yes, you'll
make a good father, Mamoru-sama. Your children love you
very much."
In his sleep, Mamoru smiled.
**********
Japanese words used in this episode:
Iie - no
Onii-chan - big brother
Hai - yes
ne - Hey or Okay
Gomen ne - I'm sorry
sensei - teacher or respected elder
demo - but
seppeko - suicide
aishiteru - I love you
Konnichi'wa - Good Afternoon
Masaka - It can't be
oji-san - Uncle (formal use)
Doushite - Why?
Nani? - What?
okaa-san - mother
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This episode is my attempt to rewrite what happened in
the anime version of Sailormoon SuperS. For those not
familiar with the manga, Mamoru is the sole owner and
controller of the Golden Crystal, not Sailor Chibi Moon.
This episode acknowledges what the anime did, then tries
to set the story straight. I encourage reading manga
translations of the SuperS series at http://www.usagiand
mamoru.com to find out the real story behind the Golden
Crystal.